Are you a Milwaukee musician/band? You can submit your music to be the Milwaukee Artist of the Week by emailing links to info@BreakingAndEntering.net. We’ll check out every submission we get!

This week’s Milwaukee Artist of the Week is Trolley, a band that fuses classic sounds and modern energy to create their sound. With nearly two decades as a band, they are more than deserving of this recognition. Their latest album, “Things That Shine and Glow”, was released in September, and it’s classic pop music at it’s finest.

Trolley mixes the timeless songwriting of the psychedelic era with a touch of new wave energy, creating short, catchy, well crafted songs. Milwaukee is no stranger to this; Plasticland were known for their modern take on psychedelic in the 80s, as well. Trolley is a much different outfit, though. Modern comparisons might be to bands like Hot Hot Heat, or even to recent releases by Elvis Costello. “Things That Shine and Glow” definitely sounds like more of the latter, which is a testament to great songwriting, similar to what flourished in the 60s and 70s. Most songs on the record don’t exceed 3 1/2 minutes, and because they’re so well crafted, they don’t have to.

This is a highly danceable release, from the frantic pace of “The Calico Cat” to guitar-driven “Summer Long” kicking things off at the top of the record. While Trolley draw on classic rock influences, this album doesn’t sound dated at all. This is a modern take on the music that made the British Invasion so popular, and it works well. You’ll find yourself bobbing along to this album by mellow cut “Out of Love” (Featuring a tambourine! Finally!”) The plus side to the songs being sort of on the short side is that it’s another callback to an earlier time. Part of what made early pop releases so great were how short they were, out of necessity to fit on a 45. Trolley capture this aspect and make it their own, as each song sounds like it could be a 7″ vinyl single.

At the heart of this all is, of course, the music. Pure and simple. These are well crafted, well produced, catchy songs. With years of experience under their belt, as well as a handful of other releases, Trolley have a solid catalog of music worth checking out. Stream “Things That Shine and Glow” below:

For more Trolley, check them out on Facebook, Bandcamp, and Reverbnation.